Page 54 of Known By You
My pulse jumped, body instantly on guard. They’d never been to Utah, never visited me or made so much as a text in my direction, and now they were here?
“There he is, our family’s favorite soldier,” my mom said, beaming at me like she really was glad to see me.
My dad and brother both made silly “heyyy!” sounds, my brother slapping my back as I approached.
“Hi,” I said, the confusion and skepticism clear in my tone.
“Oh, don’t pretend you’re shocked to see us! You invitedus to come visit anytime!” My mom pulled me into a hug as though we did such things regularly.
My gaze found Bruce’s, then Adam’s, then Stone’s. Each man had a different degree of concern on his face, and I instantly felt at ease.
They weren’t falling for this either.
Also, did I invite them here? If I did, I’d mind-wiped it from all memory.
“I—okay. I mean, are you guys planning to ski?” Didn’t seem likely since skiing was definitely a rich man’s sport in the US, but maybe they were in a different place financially than they always had been. They’d been at the casino when I first saw them, after all, and that wasn’t a cheap place to stay.
“Nah. Just came to see you and maybe get you to show us your favorite dinner spot. We’re only in town a few days,” my brother said, pasting on a charming smile that raised the hair on the back of my neck.
It wasn’t particularly nefarious, but he didn’t smile at me. Was this all some weird show for Bruce and the guys? For Liz, who stood with a glare I imagined she’d given more than one international bad guy she’d encountered over the years.
Maybe this was some kind of olive branch? Maybe they wanted to reestablish connection. I didn’t know if I wanted that, but they were here, so what else could I do?
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Elizabeth
Iwouldn’t claim to be someone who withheld judgement, though I did have a fairly even keel.
That said, I’d instantly disliked Kenny’s family when we saw them in Vegas, purely based on his reaction to them. One thing in this scenario was true—Kenny must be protected at all costs.
Bruce, Adam, and Stone had clearly felt the same way. I’d never seen Bruce interact with civilians in any way other than somewhere firmly in the cordial-to-charming range, but he’d been borderline stoic with Kenny’s family.
And Stone had looked like he was contemplating murder. He had such a somber face to begin with though, maybe that’d just been his thing in general? The nickname certainly fit.
Kenny’s willingness to meet them for dinner after everything he’d told me made me want to scream.
And also hug him.
And if I was already hugging, I might as well kiss him, right?
I did none of those things since we were standing there with my temporary, and his actual, boss, and we’d never gotten to the point of discussing what the heck we were doing in the wake of our reality-altering kiss. Maybe that was for the best, because I didn’t want to make plans right now. What I wanted was to make sure his family did nothing to harm him, and the roaring need to protect him wasn’t about to go away anytime soon.
But I did make sure I got an invite to dinner, too. His family had told him to invite friends as they waved and made a big thing of seeing him later as they all piled into their car and Kenny stared after them like he’d been through a tornado.
Bruce, Adam, Stone, and I had all waited for him to react. But he just watched them drive away, turned to us, and said, “This’ll be interesting,” and strode into the building.
Nothing had ever been more unsettling in my life than that man having virtually no reaction to his weirdo jerk family showing up out of nowhere and wanting to take him to dinner.
“I’m coming with you,” I called after him, to which he turned and gave me a small smile I chose to interpret as acceptance. Bruce, Adam, Stone, and I shared a look, and then we followed him inside.
A ball would be dropping, and I would be there to watch… or catch it if need be.
After a very slow workday in which I questioned everything from my choice to wear a suit to my choice to come to Silverton to Kenny’s family’s sudden and very oddly timed appearance, I trod home in the chilly winter afternoon. A quick change of clothes came first, and then I checked my personal email and caught up on texts that’d come in. I typically stored my personal phone during work hours, and the habit persisted here even though most parts of Saint Security’s building allowed for phones.
I promised Jo I’d be at the book club gathering on Saturday, then grabbed a jacket and headed to Guac. I’d hardly seen Kenny the rest of the day and when I’d left around four, he’d still been working away at his computer. He’d simply nodded and said, “See you then,” when I’d told him I was going home to change and relax a bit before dinner with his family.
It all had me on edge. The whole situation just seemed supremely sketchy, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that his family had come here to get something from him. They’d seen him with an A-list celebrity, so maybe they wanted to meet Jack? Or get his autograph or something? Seemed like a lot of work for that, though some people were enamored with fame.
